To Be Determined
by Amped.Vik
Summary: Esmeralda Elizalde jumped at the first chance to leave Harlem that she got. That was 6 years ago. Now with the violent outbreak and no way to contact her eldest brother, she makes her trek from Pennsylvania back to her home town. She sxpects to find her family, which she does, though just a bit different. This was way more than she thought was humanly possible.


Hey guys!

Not exactly sure what I'm doing here but an idea that decided to pop across my mind at 3AM!

I have a pretty good idea where I'm going to go with this, but ideas are always welcome.

PLEASE let me know how this turns out! This is my 2nd fic EVER, so there will be mistakes. Please PM me if you see any!

Also this will follow the Strain series to an extent, there will be some AU as well. Timelines will most likely be mixed, just a forewarning, but bare with me!

I own nothing but the OC!

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Augustin sheds tears of his own as he clutches his baby sister tightly to himself, rocking her small form from side to side. The Latina beauty wails into his chest as her hot tears soak the thin material of his white beater. She presses her small palms to her ears in a feeble attempt to evade the sounds that were coming from the next room.

A room that Gus had to all, but drag Esmeralda from.

Together they sit on the worn linoleum of their Mama's kitchen, propped against the 1970's stove of their childhood home - where the pair weep for two complete different reasons.

On one end of the spectrum, Augustin is elated that his _conejito_ is alive and has made it home, back to the slums of Harlem. A place where he knows that he can keep her safe and he vows to himself, and to the Lord above, to do just that. How she got here safe and sound is shearly by the grace of God himself.

On the other end, the Latina girl weeps for the loss of her Mama, something she prayed that wouldn't be as she made her trek from Pennsylvania. But what stands chained and muzzled just before the siblings in the very next room, is not the answer to any prayers. It is only the damnation that the devil himself had created.

"Mami," Esmeralda sobs just above a whisper, her brown eyes focusing hard on the beady, bloodshot eyes of the monster before her. "What has happened to you?"

"It's my fault Ella." Gus confesses as he hugs her tight, burying his face into her dark tresses. His voice deep with sorrow as Ella drops her gaze to the speckled floor beneath her, giving her brother her full attention. "This blame, it's all on me."

"Me and Felix were caught by the police. They thought we murdered a man. It was just one of those fuckin' _things_ though. They weren't listenin' to anything we had t'say and took us straight to the bullpen" He stops to intake a heavy breath, breathing in her signature scent of juniper. The aroma reminding him of much simpler times.

Times that he would sneak though the hallway because he had stayed out way beyond curfew doing everything his mother had advised him against. Gus would always stop at her door, peering through the opening Ella had left, almost as if she did it on purpose. She would be in either one of two places that he could steal a glance from where he stood in the doorway. She would either be on her bed with books and notebooks sprawled all around her, or in front of her very small vanity brushing the juniper oils through her hair.

But they weren't in simpler times.

They were here - stuck in this hell.

"Felix got sick when we were being transported. He killed three people _bonita_ , three! He even turned on me!" He chokes on his tears as Esmeralda feels his body rack with sobs "I unloaded an entire clip into his skull, like it was nothing! I just _had_ to Ella, he wouldn't stop comin'!"

Esmeralda closes her eyes as her brother pauses. His silence bringing forth the sickening snarls of the demon that was once a beautiful woman. A woman that used to rock her to sleep when she was sick. A woman that used to love all her children unconditionally.

Wanting to pull her attention on anything other than painful memories, she strives to focus on the soothing sounds of her brothers heartbeat, waiting for Gus to continue.

"I get here and Crispin shoots this fuckin' tentacle out of his mouth" he sobs harder, Elle could tell he was doing his best not to break down, as she already has. He was trying to be the strong one as he always had been. Esmeralda pushes herself off of Gus, leveling her chestnut gaze with his onyx orbs. She knows where this is going.

"I begged and I begged for him to stop _conejito_ , but he _wouldn't_." Hot tears were streaming down his profile as Ella places her hands on his face. Her thumbs wiping away the tears off of his prominent cheek bones. "I swear I tried Elle, but it-" She shushes her brother as he tries to continue, not needing to hear anymore - and not wanting to put him through the pain of reliving it.

"It's not _your_ fault Auggie"

Augustin pulls her close again as he rocks them side to side once more. This time not necessarily for her comfort, but for his own. Deep down, his sibling would never know how those few words saved his soul, but that was always his _belleza_. She always knew exactly what to say and when to say it, for that matter. Her and Gus had always been close, even though Crispin was closer to her in age, one would think that the bond would be there instead of where it lied between them.

Though this wasn't the case, the younger siblings were always at each other throats. She would lash out at him every time Crispin came home doped up on whatever it was he got his hands on. Ella knew that if their Mama had seen him in his inebriated state, she wouldn't say anything, but you could see the look of heartbreak on her face.

Crispin would constantly pick on her for anything he could. Her art that she'd paint, how she'd always study, or the melodies that she would sing as she cleaned up after the two older siblings so that their mother wouldn't have too what she had gotten off of work.

The mistakes Augustin had made in his past years pile on him all at once. If he had only been here for his Mama and his brother, things would have maybe been different, even before this 'apocalypse'.

But no, he failed his Mama time and time again.

His brother too.

But he wouldn't let her down, no - he couldn't let the same fate happen to his _conejito_.

He pulls her away and grabs her face as she had just done to his minutes ago. Making her eyes meet his, to ensure that he has her full attention.

" _Promento mantenerta a salvo, incluso si es lo ultimo que hago_ " Gus mutters as determination washes over his face "You hear me? Nothing will ever hurt you Elle, not while I'm still breathin'."

Ella nods her head as best as she could between Gus' strong grip.

"I know you will." She murmurs as she pushes his hands away and burring her face into the crook of his neck, wrapping her small arms around him.

"I trust you _."_

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SPANISH -

 _Conejito - Little bunny  
_

 _ _Belleza - Lovely  
__

 _ _Bonita - Pretty__

 _Prometo mantenerte a salvo, incluso si es lo ultimo que hago - I promise to keep you safe, even if it's the last thing I do_

So whatcha guys think?

So I keep going?

Should I delete it?

REVIEW PLEASE! :)

XX - Mo!


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